It doesn't really matter but... The media abhors an eligible single

Florence Brudenell-Bruce, you might recognise the name. She's the girl who graced (some of) the nation's front pages this week in just her bra and pants. The reason for this was that she is, apparently, the girl with whom Prince Harry, the nation's russet-headed royal rogue, has been enjoying secret "trysts" recently.

Brudenell-Bruce (or "Flee" to friends) fits the bill. She's descended from the landed gentry (so she understands the rules of croquet), she used to go out with Formula One driver Jenson Button (so she can deal with the occasional flash of a paparazzo's camera) and she is a model (so she would look good on commemorative china).

And despite the fact that as of yesterday they hadn't even been photographed together, several articles have gleefully insisted that the two are an item.

While their coupling allows us to keep up with any potential changes to the line of royal succession, the story says more about the way the media treats relationships. Just as nature abhors a vacuum, the media abhors an eligible single personality. Given any opportunity it will desperately try to link them up with someone. Whether asking them in every interview if they are attached (and if not, why not?), or simply pairing them up in print the moment they are spotted with a member of the opposite sex, hacks make it very clear they have no time for a singleton.

Let's ignore the fact that the press invariably get it wrong when it comes to the Princes' romances (pretty, double-barrelled female acquaintances invariably become "childhood sweethearts"). Instead let's assume for a moment that Flee and Hazza are together. Even so, their immediate establishment as "boyfriend and girlfriend" (as several articles insisted), seems both unlikely and awkward. For most people their age it takes time before anyone is established as a couple.

In the real world, whether you are a prince or model or not, a night spent at someone's flat does not a relationship make. The concept of "just seeing each other" or "just sleeping together" doesn't fit into the rigid, black and white rules of romance reporting, unfortunately.